Vintage chocolate is a fairly new concept, but derives from the same basic premise accepted by wine makers and drinkers: that not only do different harvests of raw materials (grapes for wine, or cacao beans for chocolate) create end products with contrasting taste profiles but, in some cases, these products get better with age. With its three types of Estate Grown chocolate bars, Valrhona is attempting to encourage people and retailers to purchase, store, taste, and compare chocolates of different origins and harvests at various levels of maturity.

The problem with vintage chocolate as a new concept, however, is that it’s a mighty big ask for chocolate lovers to store chocolate nearby without gobbling it up (have you ever tried to keep something you enjoy eating or drinking in your house without succumbing to its charms? I rest my case), and retailers don’t seem to be able to keep older vintages in stock without people buying them the year they come out.

Perhaps Valrhona should keep certain quantities of its chocolates locked away for several years before releasing it for sale? I think vintage chocolate is an interesting idea, but all I’ve been able to do so far is find each variety (Palmira, Apamakia, and Gran Couva) in the 2008 vintage, and not from different years and harvests. Nevertheless, I undertook comparing this one vintage year with a certain element of excitement and gusto. (I also ate a pound of baby zucchini afterwards which, probably unsurprisingly, didn’t really make my stomach feel much better.)

Palmira 2008

Valrhona Palmira 2008

The three Estate Grown chocolates are all 64%, yet the differences in their levels of sweetness and flavour profiles is significant. The Palmira, made from cacao from Venezuela, has an incredibly strong honey flavour tempered with notes of cherry, almond, and the occasional burst of tanginess that reminds me of yogurt and orange sherbert (though without the fizz). Towards the end, the nut and honey notes call to mind toblerone bars. What with the dominance of honey, this is a very sweet bar, and while it has a rich melt, there is also a slight powderiness to the texture.

Gran Couva 2008

Valrhona Gran Couva 2008

The Gran Couva is made from cacao from Trinidad, and is by far my favourite of the three. The aroma is of nuts, honey, and cream, and the initial taste is toffee – the home-made kind found in pattycake cases that used to be ubiquitous at primary school fetes, back when we were allowed to have sweets at school. In other words, Gran Couva has a very light sweetness, for while I commonly detect brown sugar and molasses notes in dark chocolate, this is one of the rare cases where I think of caster sugar. It is also, in fact, the first time that fairy floss has appeared in my tasting notes. It’s not particularly woodsy or earthy but it isn’t fruity either, which I’m pleased about. The flavour is like white bread with honey, sugared almonds, and a perfectly ripe pear. It’s a chocolate with a delicate and floral sweetness, and has nothing too assertive or domineering to turn anyone away.

Apamakia 2008

Valrhona Apamakia 2008

The Apamakia, from Madagascar, is a little too subtle in flavour for my tastes. The first note in the aroma is butter, followed by vague sweetness. Lighter in colour and complexity than the other two, the Apamakia is also the fruitiest, and has a distinct citrus tanginess that grows stronger with each nibble. Interestingly, by the end the citrus notes have morphed into lemon curd, and the butter from the aroma has become melted butter in the taste. For those who enjoy citrus, raspberry, and tangy flavours in their chocolate, this is for you. For my part, I’ll be sticking with the Gran Couva.

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Oh Hannah, I love you. Because you put such a lot of effort and thought into consuming chocolate. I would love to pretend to be a connoisseur, but the sad truth is that my chocolate eating is a little something like this: “NOM NOM NOMOMOM OMMMM NOMMM DELICIOUS SUGAR! DELICIOUS COCOA! DELICIOUS MILK! DELICIOUS CAFFEINE! OM NOMMM NOMMM”
…after which i collapse into a sugar coma and take a nap to assist my digestive acids in doin’ their thang.

Semi-unrelated: i have been eating SO MUCH chocolate lately. Like, scarily large quantities at a time, and with frightening frequency. I think maybe I subconsciously realise Australian makers/retailers are probably struggling with you overseas, so I’m takin’ one for the team. God bless my selflessness 🙂

Oh and in response to your facebook comment (i’m at work, where they very cruelly blocked facebook, but i read bits and pieces on my mobile when i’m bored…bwahaha. but responding to comments using my tiny little mobile keypad is not much fun) – yes, the shout-out was much-appreciated! It warmed my heart and filled my soul with delight and joyous rapture.

I love the fact that you can approach a chocolate bar like I might approach a dram of 16yo, Non-chill filtered Glenlivet Nàdurra. You are the undisputed queen, no, the benchmark of excellence for chocolate connoisseur!

L-Izzle: What the world would do without such thoughtful, considerate, selfless people, I just do not know. (Capitalism might fail? Marx be validated?) And in case you for a minute think I’m all serious-like with the reviewing, my tasting notes are entirely full of capitals, exclamation marks, incorrect grammar and spelling because I’m typing too fast, and absolutely lots of “om nom nom yum good delicious more nom nom”.

And no matter how much chocolate you’re eating, I promise you I’m eating more. At least two blocks a day. Which leads into…

L.Engineer: I too have been missing having people to share/off-load my stash with! Sure, there are some that are so good you wouldn’t get a look-in anyway, but there are plenty where I’ve had to *force* myself to finish the block so I can justify buying more, when really I’d be happy to let someone else have a go. Oh, the trials, the woes of being me.

Corey: I want to hug you. Except, as a queen, I’d probably only be able to let you kiss my hand. Also, (after a bit of google researching…) I shall know to come to you if I ever need advice on single malt whiskeys. 🙂

Interesting! I hadn’t really heard much about vintage chocolate. Bizarrely I don’t seem to have problems storing chocolates (I often forget I ahve some as I tend to have a lot in the cupboard) but they turn powdery and quite horrible so I wonder if it’s really practical? 🙂

Lorraine, I think I can safely say that in most cases it is never practical nor any good to store chocolate for long! 😛 Though turning powdery – that would usually be a sign of blooming, which could be the cause when we factor in the amazing cooking and baking you get up to in that magical kitchen of yours!

Or else you store yours for a really, really long time, and have thereby proven wrong the entire concept behind vintage chocolate… For my part, it’s rather hard to forget about the chocolate one owns when living out of a suitcase barely bigger than a carry-on bag!!

Apparently I have enough time on my hands today to go back through old posts of blogs I read now, but didn’t then. And I just had to comment on this one. First of all, what would you say if I told you the chocolate bar in my Facebook profile is Gran Couva? Because it is. 🙂 And secondly, I’ve been thinking a lot about vintage chocolates lately, mostly in reference to the Precious. So the other time I had Porcelana, it was from Pierre Hermé, who I’m pretty sure uses Valrhona. Who only make the Porcelana in particular vintage years (could explain why you are only finding 2008s – they don’t make the vintage chocolates every year, only in exceptional ones, like Champagne). And I have to say, the Amadei one doesn’t hold a candle to the (presumably) vintage Valrhona one.

That said, the other chocolate you sent me (which was a surprise, thank you so much!) is phenomenal. Anyway, this here would appear to be one of the paragraphs of that email I owe you.

Camille: *laughs* This is hilarious, I’ve just been going through your archives too! I’m up to October 2008 – it’ll take me awhile as I don’t have as much internet access these days 🙂 I’m also too scared to read these reviews of mine, in case my earlier words are cringe-worthy…

I thought the Porcelana you had was Amadei – had no idea it was Pierre Herme! Darn, now I’m all sad that the one I bought myself was the Porcelana and not the other one I sent you. Double darn. And nice whittling-down of your hypothetical email 😉

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About

Hannah. Writer, editor, firm believer in socks, gin, laughter, buttered toast, cheesecake, and semicolons. Currently back in Canberra after two years living in Canada; heart tingling to see what happens next.